Obama Thanks Reddit On Net Neutrality

A longer message was sent to the Reddit blog: "Earlier today, the FCC voted to protect a free and open internet — the kind of internet that allows entrepreneurs to thrive and debates over duck-sized horses and horse-sized ducks to persist. This would not have happened without the activism and engagement of millions of Americans like you. And that was a direct result of communities like reddit. So to all the redditors who participated in this movement, I have a simple message: Thank you.  —President Barack Obama"

This has made the Tea People furious, of course.

FCC Approves Net Neutrality

Via TechCrunch:

As expected, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed new net neutrality regulations today on a vote of 3-2, with the Commission’s two Democratic appointees joining Chairman Tom Wheeler in voting yes. The Commission’s two Republican-appointed members both voted no.

Notably, the FCC’s plan is now known to have undergone a last-minute revision to remove a potential weakness in its formation, pointed out by Google, that might have allowed for some paid prioritization. If you were curious about Google’s take on net neutrality, that fact should settle the question. The CEO of Etsy, an online marketplace, spoke before the commission voted to “applaud” the FCC for putting into place “bright line” rules, and “voting to protect the Internet.”

Up first from the commission, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in her remarks that the “framers” of America “would be pleased” with the FCC’s plan. The commissioner went on to call today’s vote the FCC’s “third bite at the apple.” Clyburn also disclosed, as was previously reported, that she had helped shape part of the order, and also listed a number of changes she would have preferred to see in the order itself. The commissioner wrapped by arguing that individuals who are worried about rate regulation are worrying unnecessarily.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel argued that the United States’ “Internet economy is the envy of the world. We invented it. The app economy began right here on our shores.” She went on to call the Internet “our printing press” and “our town square.” Rosenworcel also called attention to the massive outpouring of public response to net neutrality: “Four million Americans wrote to this agency…Whatever our disagreements are on net neutrality, I hope we agree that this is democracy in action and something we can all support.”

More from Wired:

With the vote, the FCC is changing the way it views both wireless and fixed-line broadband service providers, reclassifying them as “Title II” common carriers under the nation’s telecommunications laws. The Title II designation, which already covers voice services, gives the FCC the ability to set rates, open up access to competitors, and generally more closely regulate the broadband industry. It’s a reversal of course for the FCC, which until now did not even enforce net neutrality rules on wireless broadband services, and very lightly regulated fixed providers. But it’s also a return to the regulatory regime that governed consumer internet services 20 years ago, when hundreds of dial-up internet service providers competed on Title II-regulated phone networks.

Internet service providers and Republican commissioners on the FCC see the new rules as unnecessary and dangerous government interference. “The internet is not broken,” said FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. “There is no problem for the government to solve.” Ironically, today’s vote was first set in motion by a series of lawsuits dating back several years, which challenged the FCC’s ability to enforce it’s own net neutrality regulations. Last year the latest legal challenge ended when a D.C. court ruled in Verizon’s favor, saying that the way that the FCC had classified internet services didn’t give it the right to enforce net neutrality.

Conservative groups and the American Family Foundation have vigorously opposed net neutrality. Because Obama.

Hotels Seek To Block WiFi Hotspots

Via the Wall Street Journal:

An industry group that includes Marriott International Inc. has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for guidance on whether hotels are acting within the law when they disable unauthorized WiFi access points set up on their properties. The hotels say they are trying to make sure their own wireless networks don’t get bogged down and to prevent criminals from tricking people into logging onto fake WiFi networks. The issue is a flash point for some consumers who believe hotels are trying to force people to use hotel Internet WiFi service—often for a price. And it has broader implications for how convention halls, companies and hospitals manage what has become a must-have communications service. The hotel group says the law against willful interference of communications signals shouldn’t apply to WiFi, because it doesn’t use licensed spectrum.

Yesterday the New York Times editorialized against the petition, calling the claim that WiFi frequencies aren't licensed in the first place an "absurd argument." Last summer Marriott was fined $600K for blocking signals at its hotel and convention complex in Nashville.

Tony Perkins: The Vatican's Colloqium Is A "Clarion Call" Against Same-Sex Marriage

"Today, the Vatican’s colloquium on the complementarity of man and woman in marriage moved from laying a theoretical groundwork to take on the tone of a half-time locker room pep talk for those advancing the cause of natural marriage. In message after message today, from Sikh, Muslim, Mormon, and others (including American evangelicals Rick Warren and Russell Moore), there was a clarion call to renew the effort to uphold marriage as God intended it to be. Rick Warren gave an outstanding message that brought everyone to their feet as he gave clear instructions of what we must do. He warned that the opposition would be present as we lifted up marriage, but he said don’t mind the temporal voices, 'The only way to be relevant is to be eternal.' And answering those who love to say those who see marriage for how it was created are on the wrong side of history, Rick said, 'It’s not important to be on the right side of culture or the right side of history, it is just important to be on the right side!'" - Hate group leader Tony Perkins, via email.

President Obama On Net Neutrality: FCC Should Reclassify Internet As Public Utility

Via Reuters:

Barack Obama took a strong stance on Monday on new 'net neutrality' regulations being drafted by the Federal Communications Commission, saying the agency should reclassify broadband to regulate it more like a public utility. The FCC has received nearly 4 million comments after Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed new rules that prohibited Internet service providers from blocking any content, but allowed deals where content providers would pay ISPs to ensure smooth delivery of traffic. Obama, who campaigned on the issue of net neutrality, said the FCC's new rules should explicitly ban such paid prioritization deals and sided with consumer advocates who have pushed for the FCC to reclassify ISPs so that they can be regulated more like a public utility.

Read the White House statement.

Eugene Delgaudio: The FCC Will Force Networks To Broadcast Gay Porn

"The FCC now has announced they plan to immediately allow the broadcast of explicit acts of sodomy, perversion and the use of curse words to FURTHER destroy our culture. The FCC proposes they become a Federal Porn Agency and that all TV stations be 'allowed' (i.e. forced) to broadcast language supporting porn, homosexual acts and other perversions all hours of the day and night. Please join me in demanding Congress freeze all funding and all nominations to the FCC board and to conduct hearings to stop this or to alternatively change the legal name of the FCC to Federal Gay Porn Agency." - Eugene Delgaudio, in this week's money beg.

Boston Red Sox Player David Ortiz On Live Television: This Is Our Fucking City

As your can see by his tweet below, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski immediately gave the network a pass on the language violation. (I bet OMM won't bitch about THIS.) Buzzfeed adds that Neil Diamond flew himself to Boston this morning and phoned the stadium to see if he could perform the Fenway Park standard Sweet Caroline in person.

FCC To FAA: Drop Electronics Rule

Via New York Times:

Now the United States government is telling the United States government to allow devices on airplanes during takeoff and landing. Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration Thursday, urging the agency to allow more electronics on airplanes. Mr. Genachowski said the F.A.A. should “enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices” during flights. The letter was first obtained by The Hill. The letter, which was addressed to Michael Huerta, the acting administrator of the F.A.A., went on to promote the importance of allowing people to use these devices on planes as more Americans become increasingly reliant on devices for work and pleasure.

HRC Files Complaint Over Anti-Gay Texts

The Human Rights Campaign has filed a complaint with the FCC over anti-gay text messages being sent to voters in states where marriage is on the ballot. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:

Following a series of anti-Obama text messages received on Tuesday night — some of which addressed the president's record on LGBT issues — HRC, the nation's largest LGBT political group, asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the company. The company, ccAdvertising, has not admitted to sending the messages. But the dummy sites used to send the messages were registered to company executives. Additionally, one of those executives — Gabe Joseph — is known for using questionable tactics, according to Republican operatives familiar with his past activities. BuzzFeed has reported that the "email-to-text technology" apparently employed by the sender of the messages — which sends emails to cell phones in the form of SMS messages — allowed the firm to deliver unsolicited texts from web domains rather than phone numbers, all the while skirting existing Federal Communications Commission regulations.

HRC vice president Fred Sainz: "It’s unacceptable to launch these types of despicable attacks from dark corners, and it’s incredibly irresponsible to send out unsolicited messages to people who have no desire to receive this type of vitriol."

FCC Allows Basic Cable Encryption

If you've been hooking up your internet modem to rip off basic cable, those days are over.

Federal regulators are letting cable companies scramble all their TV signals, closing a loophole that lets many households watch basic cable channels for free. The Federal Communications Commission voted Friday to lift a ban on encryption of basic cable signals, saying it will reduce the number of visits by cable technicians to disconnect service and reduce cable theft.

Fox Challenged For FCC Licenses

Citing News Corp's ongoing involvement in a hacking scandal, a public policy watchdog group has filed an FCC challenge against the renewing of broadcasting licenses for three Fox stations in the Washington DC area.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a petition to deny Fox's applications to renew licenses for three of its TV stations - WTTG-TV and WDCA-TV in Washington, D.C., and WUTB-TV in Baltimore. "It is well-established that News Corp. has been involved in one of the biggest media scandals of all time," said CREW executive director Melanie Sloan. "Its reporters hacked voice mails and bribed public officials while top executives - including (News Corp. CEO) Rupert Murdoch - either approved the conduct or turned a blind eye."

News Corp. and Murdoch have apologized about the ethics scandal, which led to the closing of its tabloid News of the World and the departure of several senior executives. The company has been investigated by lawmakers there and blasted for the lack of ethics at some of its newspapers. Murdoch's son, James Murdoch, has been singled out for criticism because he had oversight of the British newspapers for several years.

FCC: Verizon Can't Charge For Tethering

Verizon has been fined $1.25M for charging customers who used a third-party app to evade their tethering fee.

The company had asked Google to remove "tethering" apps from its Android Market. Tethering allows users to plug a smartphone into a computer and use the phone's cellular connection to power the computer's Internet access. The apps circumvented Verizon's own tethering service, which costs $20 per month. In 2008, when Verizon bought the licenses to the wireless frequencies that it now uses for its 4G service, the FCC imposed rules barring the company from restricting its customers' ability to use the devices or apps of their choosing. The rules only apply to Verizon and not other wireless carriers.

Tethering fees were a frequent topic at this year's Netroots as the venue's wifi was often unreliable.

SCOTUS Slaps Down TV Cursing Law

The Supreme Court today unanimously ruled in favor of broadcasters who say they are unfairly punished for "isolated moments" of obscenity and profanity that slip onto the airwaves.

In an 8-0 vote, justices concluded the Federal Communications Commission cannot enforce its current policies against "fleeting" expletives and nudity on over-the-air programs, both live and scripted. The agency had levied hefty fines on all four major broadcasters beginning nearly a decade ago. The court's ruling establishes important First Amendment guidelines over explicit content on the airwaves. "The commission failed to give Fox or ABC fair notice prior to the broadcasts in question that fleeting expletives and momentary nudity could be found actionably indecent," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. The Justice Department had filed an appeal, and helpfully provided the justices with a DVD of a 2003 episode of the now-canceled "NYPD Blue" on ABC in which a naked woman was shown. The content of that program is central to the current legal dispute. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are all parties in the case.

The FCC began more aggressively fining networks in 2003 after U2's Bono accepted an award on live television by saying, "This is really, really fucking brilliant." That infraction standard became known as the "Golden Globes Rule."

Stolen Cell Phones To Be Disabled

The FCC has leaned on North American cell carriers and forced them to agree to permanently disable any phone that has been reported stolen. The proposed system is already in use across Europe.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said in a statement late Monday that major cellphone carriers and the Federal Communications Commission have agreed to set up a database of identification numbers that are unique to each phone. Using the list, cellular carriers will be able to permanently disable a phone once it's been reported stolen. Until now, U.S. carriers have only been disabling so-called "SIM" cards, which can be swapped in and out. That's enabled a black market to exist for stolen phones. Schumer said that the goal of the agreement is to make a stolen cellphone "as worthless as an empty wallet."

As I've reported here recently, New York City is presently enduring an epidemic of cell-snatching on the subway. Typically thieves will reach into the car just as the doors are closing. Before the victim can react, the train is already in motion. The MTA has issued advisories warning riders not to reveal their phones while near the doors.

GOP Fails To Block Net Neutrality

A last-ditch GOP attempt to block the FCC's coming rules on net neutrality has failed in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats narrowly defeated the measure by a vote of 52-46. Politico notes that the president had promised to veto the bill.

It is unclear whether Senate Republicans intend to attempt a related resolution in the future. A similar measure by House Republicans sailed to victory in April. The Senate outcome Thursday is largely symbolic: Even Republicans had recognized the White House would likely veto any effort to roll back the FCC’s work on net neutrality, a threat the administration made formal this week. But Republicans in the upper chamber, led by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), never backed down in their war. With more than 40 original co-sponsors, the GOP held on to the resolution for months, waiting for the FCC to publish its rules through official channels, so that GOP lawmakers could fast track their measure to the floor while avoiding a filibuster.

As more internet providers are gobbled up by major content providers such as television networks, many fear that web speeds will be throttled when customers attempt to access content owned by the competitors of their ISP. The FCC rules outlaw such actions. And as usual, the GOP sided with corporations over consumers.

Concerned Women Are Concernstipated About Closed Captioning For The Deaf

"For years, the FCC has granted churches and small faith-based organizations an exemption from closed captioning requirements, because the additional financial burden would cripple their ability to produce these programs. Now the FCC is rescinding all exemptions and allowing only 90 days for programmers to meet these costly requirements. [snip] The FCC’s iron fist suggests a darker motive. Why such animosity towards religious groups? The erratic implementation of these high hurdles creates an undue hardship for these small Christian broadcasters that will be very hard to overcome. Clearly, the cure is worse than the disease in this case. I hope the FCC reconsiders this unnecessary move and allows religious broadcasters to continue doing their marvelous work, which contributes much needed aid to our moral and cultural decay." - Penny Nance, head shrew for Concerned Women.

GLAAD Files FCC Complaint Against Anti-Gay Spanish-Language TV Show

In a joint move with the National Hispanic Coalition, GLAAD announced today that it is filing an FCC complaint against the Spanish-language show, Jose Luis sin Censura, which routinely features anti-LGBT hate speech and has encouraged audience members to attack gay guests on the program.

In over twenty episodes that aired between June 18 and December 7, 2010, the program contained images and language of the nature that is never displayed or is bleeped out of pre-taped English-language programs of the same nature, including the words "pinche" ("f*cking" in English) and "culero" ("assf*cker"), anti-gay language, including epithets such as ""maricón," "joto" and "puñal" (or "f*ggot"), and anti-Latino slurs, such as "mojado" ("wetback"). The program frequently featured blatant nudity and female guests have been shown in violent fights. Hypersexualized images of women's breasts and genitals while stripping for male guests and audience members also make up routine offerings. Guests and audience members were often incited to engage in verbal and even physical attacks, especially against people perceived to be LGBT. Many episodes showed the audience standing and shouting anti-gay epithets and profanity at guests.

An online public petition to the FCC has also been launched. The below clip is very NSFW.

FCC Approves Comcast-Universal Merger

CNN is reporting today that the FCC has approved the merger between cable giant Comcast and NBC-Universal. CNET explains:

The $37 billion merger between the companies has been a long time coming. The deal, which was first announced in 2009, provides Comcast with a 51 percent controlling stake in NBC Universal. General Electric will retain the remaining 49 percent. When the deal was first announced, the companies hoped to have it accepted by regulatory bodies at the end of 2010. However, over the course of the last year, the companies faced increasing concerns that their merger might unfairly impact competing content providers and harm consumers. The Department of Justice, which is also evaluating the merger with regard to antitrust rules, is also expected to vote to approve the joint venture. Both the Justice Department and that FCC stamps of approval are needed before the deal to form the joint venture can close.

The merger has been a subject of relentless lampooning on NBC's 30 Rock, where the acquiring company is called Kabletown.

Concerned Women Are Concernstipated About Potty Mouths On Television

Quote Of The Day - Melissa Henson

"It seems to us that this panel of three judges walked into the courtroom with their minds already made up and with kind of a chip on their shoulder about the whole enforcement regime of the Federal Communications Commission and that they did not look at the facts of the case objectively.

"The judges basically overturned the will of the American people, the laws of the land, and even a decision of the Supreme Court. If this ruling is allowed to stand, it will basically open the floodgate for non-stop 'f-words' and 's-words,' nudity, profanity [and] graphic violence throughout the day -- regardless of venue, regardless of whether or not there are children in the viewing audience." - Melissa Henson, spokesnudge for the Christianist-run Parents Television Council, responding to yesterday's overturning of the FCC's rules on potty language.